Sean Payton agrees to new contract with Saints, sources say

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints and suspended coach Sean Payton will
indeed be together again next season as the bounty scandal fades into history
and the bid to win a second Super Bowl resumes.

Payton has agreed in principle to a multiyear contract extension, according
to two people familiar with the deal.

The people told The Associated Press about the deal Friday night on condition
of anonymity because it hasn’t been signed and final details regarding the
length of the contract and financial compensation are still being worked out.

“Very happy it is official,” quarterback Drew Brees said in an email to the
AP. “Never had any doubts.”

Payton was due to begin his seventh season as the Saints’ head coach in 2012
before being suspended for the whole season by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in
connection with the NFL’s bounty investigation.

Payton signed an extension in 2011 that would have kept him in New Orleans
through 2015, but Goodell objected to certain language in that deal, leaving
Payton’s future uncertain until the deal was reached Friday. The language in
question in the previous extension gave Payton the right to opt out early if
general manager Mickey Loomis left the club for any reason.

Although the Saints objected to the characterization of what coaches and
players have said was nothing more than a performance pool for big plays,
Goodell suspended Payton for the entire season.

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